Here is my latest English rendition of Tang dynasty quatrains on the theme of life in the imperial palace. The original is clearly a palace plaint 宮怨 but subtly made through the words of a third person who simply describes the situations the 2 ladies concerned are in --- (i) line 2: in a small, splendid side-hall, (ii) line 1: no one comes to their flowering courtyard-garden whose gates are closed, (iii) lines 3 and 4: wishing to talk about palace affairs but dare not in the presence of the parrot. I have, in my English rendition, added the words "their plaints" to make plain this poem is a palace plaint.
Zhu Qingyu (early 800’s): A Verse on
Life Inside the Palace
1
Quiet, so quiet, the flowering
garden, its doors and gates all closed.
2
Two beauties, there stand
side by side, in a small, splendid side-hall.
3
Feelingly wishing to fully
share --- their plaints of palace affairs,
4
But before the mimicry, chattery parrot, they dare not speak at all.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang
Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發
26 October 2021 (revised 28.10.2021;
1.11.2021; 9.11.2021)
Translated from the original: 朱慶餘: 宮中詞
1 寂寂花時閉院門
2 美人相並立瓊軒
3 含情欲說宮中事
4 鸚鵡前頭不敢言
Notes:
*Form, Metre, and Rhyme: The original is a 7-character quatrain 七言絕句 with a caesura
after the fourth character. This English
rendition is in heptameter (7 feet or beats) with a caesura after the fourth
beat. The original’s rhyme scheme is
xAxA which is followed in the English rendition.
*Line 1:
The reduplication of 寂 (quiet) is rendered as “Quiet, so quiet" after considering “Quietly quiet”. 花時 (flower; time or season) is rendered simply as “flowering” (after
considering “blossoming” and “blooming”) with the present continuous tense to
cover the idea that this is 花時 the flowering season. 院 (courtyard) is an
enclosed open space outside the building(s) which can serve as “garden” and is
rendered as such. The half line 閉院門 (close;
courtyard; doors) is, thus, rendered as “the … garden, its doors and gates all
closed”.
*Line 2:
美人 (beautiful; human) is rendered as “Two beauties”, with “Two” added
which is implicit in the context. 相並 (mutual; together)
is literally translated as “side by side”, and 立
(stand) also literally, as “there stand”. The word 瓊
(fine jade) in 瓊軒 comes from 玉 (jade) but used as
an adjective to mean beautiful, resplendent, exquisite, etc., to qualify the
architectural structure called 軒
(a room/ chamber/ hall which is smaller in size and is not the
main one , or a long corridor/ passage way). Here, I have rendered 瓊軒 as “in a small, splendid side-hall”, after considering “in a splendid chamber, small”. In the context of (i) two ladies (not many
ladies), (ii) standing side by side, (iii) chatting or about to chat, and (iv)
in the presence of a parrot (probably caged or chained), my interpretation of 軒 as “small room/ chamber/
hall” makes better sense than “long corridor/ passage way”.
*Line 3:
含情 (have; feelings) is literally translated as “Feelingly”. 欲說
(wish or want; speak) is rendered as “wishing to fully share”,
with “share” to translate 說, and with “fully” added to heighten the 情 feelings in their
hearts. 宮中事 (palace; middle or inside; matters or
affairs) is rendered as “their plaints of palace affairs”, with “palace
affairs” to translate 宮中事
and with “their plaints” added, as complaints must be part, if
not the whole, of what they wish to talk about on palace affairs I had originally considered to deploy words
like “gossips” and “rumours”, but have decided that these are all covered by “palace
affairs”.
*Line 4:
不敢言 (not; dare; speak) is translated literally as “they dare not speak
at all” to complete the “side-hall (line 2)” – “all (line 4)” rhyme. 鸚鵡前頭
(parrot; front; head) is rendered as “But before the mimicry, chattery
parrot”, with “mimicry, chattery” added to lay bare why “they dare not speak at
all” and to make the line a 7-beat line.
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